Statewide Winners Announced in Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest

SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. (4/4/2011)

ATHENS, Ga. (April 4, 2011) - Twelve elementary school children have been selected as statewide winners in the Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest. More than 4,400 kindergarten through 5th-grade students from 43 public schools, private schools and home-school groups participated in the 21st annual conservation art competition, according to the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division and The State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

Participants entered at the local school-level with drawings depicting their observations of Georgia’s native plants and animals. The 2011 contest theme was “Celebrating Georgia’s Wildlife from the Mountains to the Sea.” Drawings were judged based on aspects such as theme, originality and the quality and impact of the artwork. Top school-level entries proceeded to the state contest at The State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens.

Winning entries will also be displayed on weekends April 8-24 at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Go Fish Education Center in Perry. The Go Fish Education Center is designed to help visitors take an educational journey through Georgia’s watersheds to learn about our diverse aquatic wildlife, their natural habitats and the impacts of water pollution. Visitors will see live fish exhibits, explore underwater habitats from mountain streams to black water swamps, test their fishing skills with interactive fishing and boating simulators, and view aquatic wildlife, including live alligators! Visit www.gofisheducationcenter.com for directions, fees and operating hours.

The poster contest is sponsored by the DNR Wildlife Resources Division, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network Inc., or TERN, friends group of the Wildlife Resources Division’s Nongame Conservation Section. For more information, visit www.georgiawildlife.com or www.uga.edu/botgarden, or contact the Nongame Conservation Section office in Forsyth, (478) 994-1438.

Georgians can support important conservation, recreation and education efforts like the Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest as well as other conservation programs for Georgia’s nongame wildlife by purchasing a nongame wildlife license plate and donating to the Give Wildlife Chance state income tax checkoff. The checkoff – line 26 on Form 500 and line 10 on Form 500EZ – and the eagle and hummingbird license plates are primary sources of funding for the Nongame Conservation Section.